Current Issue : July - September Volume : 2011 Issue Number : 3 Articles : 6 Articles
Lignans and their in vivo metabolites, especially enterolactone (ENL), have attracted substantial interest as potential chemopreventive agents for prostate cancer. Preclinical and clinical interventions performed with lignan-rich flaxseed that use surrogate biomarkers as endpoints suggest that lignans may attenuate prostate carcinogenesis in individuals with increased risk or with diagnosed cancer. No unequivocal prostate cancer risk reduction has been found for lignans in epidemiological studies, suggesting that lignan concentrations found in populations consuming a regular non-supplemented diet are not chemopreventive in prostate cancer. Presumably, the main obstacles in assessing the efficacy of food lignans is limited knowledge of the serum and tissue lignan concentrations required for the putative prevention. Further clinical studies performed with the purified compounds are required to substantiate a health claim....
A Symposium regarding the Pathophysiology of Successful and Unsuccessful Ageing was held in Palermo, Italy between April 7 and 8th 2009. Here the lecture by Sikora with some input from the chairpersons Scapagnini and Barbagallo is summarized. Ageing is manifested by the decreasing health status and increasing probability to acquire age-related disease such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, atherosclerosis, metabolic disorders and others. They are likely caused by low grade inflammation driven by oxygen stress and manifested by the increased level of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-a, encoded by genes activated by the transcription factor NF-?B. It is believed that ageing is plastic and can be slowed down by caloric restriction as well as by some nutraceuticals. Accordingly, slowing down ageing and postponing the onset of age-related diseases might be achieved by blocking the NF-?B-dependent inflammation. In this review we consider the possibility of the spice curcumin, a powerful antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent possibly capable of improving the health status of the elderly....
Oxidative stress is believed to play a major role in the initiation and progression of atherosclerotic disease. The administration of antioxidants limits the injury caused by neutrophil-derived oxygen free radicals. In this context, the present study was undertaken with the broad objective of developing an antioxidant enriched health drink for optimizing health. Acceptability of the drink was assessed by sensory evaluation, viscosity measured employing viscometry, and nutrient composition analysis was carried out using standard methods. Tolerance was assessed by conducting a pilot trial where 20 healthy subjects were administered 100ml of the health drink for 14 working days. Information on their background, medical history, anthropometric measurements, lifestyle practices was collected using a structured questionnaire. The health drink was developed using ragi, wheat flour, soy flour, bengal gram flour and milk as base components and the sensory evaluation revealed that functional foods namely wheatgrass, gooseberry and cocoa powder incorporated at the level 0.25g, 0.5g and 0.5 g per 100ml respectively in the feed was highly acceptable with no considerable change in the viscosity after keeping for 2 hours. The drink contained significant amounts of micronutrients and was not a significant source of fat, especially saturated fat. The health drink was well tolerated without any gastrointestinal problems and allergic reactions. The subjects reported moderate satiation, sufficient serving size and no difficulty in consuming the health drink. This suggests that low cost kitchen formulated functional foods may help to cater to the needs of “at risk” population and thereby retard the epidemic of NCDs....
The medical significance of circulating endothelial or hematopoietic progenitors is becoming increasing recognized. While therapeutic augmentation of circulating progenitor cells using G-CSF has resulted in promising preclinical and early clinical data for several degenerative conditions, this approach is limited by cost and inability to perform chronic administration. Stem-Kine is a food supplement that was previously reported to augment circulating EPC in a pilot study. Here we report a trial in 18 healthy volunteers administered Stem-Kine twice daily for a 2 week period. Significant increases in circulating CD133 and CD34 cells were observed at days 1, 2, 7, and 14 subsequent to initiation of administration, which correlated with increased hematopoietic progenitors as detected by the HALO assay. Augmentation of EPC numbers in circulation was detected by KDR-1/CD34 staining and colony forming assays. These data suggest Stem-Kine supplementation may be useful as a stimulator of reparative processes associated with mobilization of hematopoietic and endothelial progenitors....
As hyperlipidemia, including hypercholesterolemia (HC) and hypertriglyceridemia (HTN), continue to challenge North America's healthcare systems, patients continue to seek efficacious and safe natural therapies that complement pharmaceutical interventions. However, despite the ever-growing body of research supporting the use of functional foods and nutraceuticals (FFN) for the prevention and treatment of hyperlipidemia, reception amongst the medical community regarding the implementation of FFN into clinical guidelines continues to lag. Research demonstrates that specific FFN target and modulate molecular processes that perpetuate hyperlipidemia. In addition, studies consistently demonstrate that combining certain FFN such as marine-derived omega-3 fatty acids or plant sterols/stanols with statins enhances triglyceride and cholesterol-lowering efficacy, respectively. Thus, the purpose of this commentary is to contend that efficacious FFN not only reduce HC and HTG but also boost the lipid-lowering effects of pharmaceutical hypolipidemic medications. Finally, this editorial aims to challenge current medical guidelines to emphasize efficacious FFN during all stages of treatment of hyperlipidemias as adjuncts to pharmacotherapy....
The prevalence of Celiac Disease (CD), an autoimmune enteropathy, characterized by chronic inflammation of the intestinal mucosa, atrophy of intestinal villi and several clinical manifestations has increased in recent years. Subjects affected by CD cannot tolerate gluten protein, a mixture of storage proteins contained in several cereals (wheat, rye, barley and derivatives). Gluten free-diet remains the cornerstone treatment for celiac patients. Therefore the absence of gluten in natural and processed foods represents a key aspect of food safety of the gluten-free diet. A promising area is the use of minor or pseudo-cereals such as amaranth, buckwheat, quinoa, sorghum and teff. The paper is focused on the new definition of gluten-free products in food label, the nutritional properties of the gluten-free cereals and their use to prevent nutritional deficiencies of celiac subjects....
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